Professional radio repair?

[ur20v]

I'm looking for suggestions for professional radio repair services or technicians. I recently purchased a used radio online, and I'm afraid it's had the golden screwdriver treatment. I'd really like this radio un-effed if at all possible.

 

[mmckenna]

The test equipment to do this isn't cheap. A tech that fully understands how to work said test equipment isn't cheap. Add in an hour or so of "doing it right" and you are going to easily be looking at more than the cost of a new CB.

Unless this CB has special meaning to you, just toss it and get a new one.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

The test equipment to do this isn't cheap. A tech that fully understands how to work said test equipment isn't cheap. Add in an hour or so of "doing it right" and you are going to easily be looking at more than the cost of a new CB.

Unless this CB has special meaning to you, just toss it and get a new one.

Even if the tech knows what he is doing, it may be a lost cause. I have seen so many you tube videos of folks stretching coils, removing and replacing PA parts that I would be hesitant buying ANY used CB radio.

It is HAMS too, I bought an expensive radio from a Ham who insisted it was unmodified. I get it open and there are all kinds of wild 9600 packet mods all over the board. I had to get him to fess up and send me the docs to reverse the mess.

 

[ur20v]

The test equipment to do this isn't cheap. A tech that fully understands how to work said test equipment isn't cheap. Add in an hour or so of "doing it right" and you are going to easily be looking at more than the cost of a new CB.

Unless this CB has special meaning to you, just toss it and get a new one.

I'm not worried about cost. I have over $150k in tools and equipment and charge my clients between $85-$170 an hour, I understand the value of skill, talent and time as well as the investment in the right tools for the job.

As for the radio itself, it holds no sentimental value, but it is a radio that I have been seeking for a while now and they're fairly difficult to come by. I don't think it's beyond saving, as it still transmits and receives, and I took a look around inside and most everything looks alright. But some of the knobs are loose, and I'm sure at the very least it could use a realignment and adjustment here and there, and a tight new SO-239.

I thought about dumping it on Craigslist and just buying a new President Lincoln II, but I'd rather not make it someone else's problem and try to have it properly tuned up first.

 

[ur20v]

RFI-EMI-GUY - I discovered (thanks to the radio in question) that my LED outdoor lighting is very, very noisy. So noisy that I had to turn them off at the panel so I could play with the radio. Anything I can do, shy of replacing all the fixtures with FCC approved units, to mitigate the interference? I'm upgrading the cheapo Radio Shack RG58 coax with slightly better RG8X this week, and I'm hoping that helps a little.

 

[buddrousa]

The noise you are hearing may be coming in the AC line you could try a AC line filter it may and may not work.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

RFI-EMI-GUY - I discovered (thanks to the radio in question) that my LED outdoor lighting is very, very noisy. So noisy that I had to turn them off at the panel so I could play with the radio. Anything I can do, shy of replacing all the fixtures with FCC approved units, to mitigate the interference? I'm upgrading the cheapo Radio Shack RG58 coax with slightly better RG8X this week, and I'm hoping that helps a little.

Seeing as you have tracked the RFI to your own lights, your battle is half over.

These first two recommendations may help with respect to common mode interference traveling on the earth ground to the antenna.

1) The antenna system needs to be grounded per NEC. That means it should be grounded to the same ground rod as your electrical panel. Likewise the radio and power supply should be bonded to this point. Motorola R56 is a helpful guide to grounding and bonding.

2) Improving the coax is always good, however the % of shielding of the coax is important. Compare specs of what you are buying and use good connectors and a proper lightning arrestor. I have been fortunate to find double shielded teflon insulated RG8 type coax for my equipment. It was surplus 400 feet for $75. I doubt that bargain exists today. It was 50 ohm plenum cable for networks. Probably surplused from a Los Alamos type govt project.

3) You LED lighting is probably junk. The manufacturers sometimes do not meet FCC requirements for residential installations. Good luck weeding out commercial lighting products (worst) from residential (better) at your home improvement store.

Also the specs are so weak that while you can buy compliant bulbs that won't bother a neighbor, those bulbs will cause you interference in your own home.

4) You might try this list for recommended bulbs:

https://www.liftmaster.com/catalogr.../tucmanuals/led bulb compatibility_011714.pdf

More from FCC on the problem:

https://apps.fcc.gov/eas/comments/GetPublishedDocument.html?id=407&tn=269260

5) If better LED bulbs don't fix the problem you can try some ferrite chokes (or filters) on the leads going to the bulb socket. There are plenty of Ham radio articles about the use of these chokes. Experimentation is in order.

6) As mentioned by another, this noise could be traveling through the wiring of the house, especially if you are in a locale that permits ROMEX, your entire house wiring may be an antenna. So chokes at the power cord for the power supply are a potential fix. You don't mention your power supply, it is probably a switcher and those have their own sort of goblins. I have used an AC power line filter on some of my sensitive equipment. They can be obtained surplus. CORCOM is a popular make. Usually a sealed metal can with a pair of "PI" filters. They have terminals for passing through the line and load terminals and have a third ground terminal.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

(snip)

I thought about dumping it on Craigslist and just buying a new President Lincoln II, but I'd rather not make it someone else's problem and try to have it properly tuned up first.

President Electronics has a US website and HQ in Naples Fl (near my Mom!) . You might try contacting them to recommend a dealer that handles their warranty work.

Have you tested on air to see if it is overmodulating? The tweakers seem to enjoy messing with modulation, AGC and power adjustments. I had a freind who called these "go faster controls" because the PA would "GO" faster!

Personally; I would start with checking all the on-line videos for that model to see what the adjustments the "golden screwdriver" might have touched and take note of any modifications or physical damage. Unless the circuit board is bodged up, it should be repairable. If there is an on line manual, double check component values in the TX RF stages.

 

[ur20v]

The radio I bought isn't a President Lincoln, but the Lincoln is the closest comparable radio available new.

 

[Gniederb]

I bought a Galaxy 99V2 looking for a hotrodded radio. I knew a guy in Mineral Wells WV that runs a shop bit I didn't want to pay his price for a new modded CB and I didn't know as much then, so I went to a cheaper shop to get my Galaxy. Long story short I ended up back in mineral wells to undo the magic screwdrivering and have the peak and tune done right so that it's reliable,works right, and you wouldn't know it's modded on either end of the transmission unless you knew how far apart we were. I know Mineral Wells is a long way from you but I bet it's closer than most the guys on this forum if you're looking for a place to take it. I've hung out there and watched him fix radios for 15-20 bucks if the repairs were simple plus a few basic adjustments. Mine was bad, the side bands were fubared and it took almost 200 bucks to fix mine. So it's hard to tell without going there and checking it out.

 

[K8cpa-chuck]

My apologies. I didn't realize this was a CB forum. I'm using tap to-talk and I didn't realize it was a CB fourm until I looked further.

CB repair? Good luck. there are a lot of golden screw drivers out there who think their technicians and half of them just want to sell you some Voodoo mod to make your radio sound better... which is really nothing more than a 12 volt mod where they bypass The Regulator. a good place to send one? I don't if Bell's CB does repairs anymore down in Florida. I heard he was pretty good.

There used to be a bunch of really good techs that were on the internet back in the 90s, when I was selling radios and such. a lot of them guys decided it wasn't worth the hassle anymore. all I can tell you is, good luck. good knowledgeable technicians, that are not book readers, but rather real technicians that know electronics really well; are far and few between.

90% of the ones that I've seen today don't impress me one iota. their big on talk and little on substance...

Same goes for these amp builders, back in the 1990s, you had really good amp Builders: Texas Star, blue face Palomar, black face Palomar..you had the Palomar 150s, 250's, messenger.. you had a lot of good amplifiers floating around.

they're all their building is them dave made copies that are class c junk. I wouldn't sell them to my worst enemy.

Sent from my SM-G920T1 using Tapatalk

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

The best skill set for retuning a SSB CB radio would probably be an FCC GROL working on HF marine radios. If the tech is a Ham, all the better.

 

[SouthernRoller]

Check out Fine Tune CB shop on youtube.

 

[wb6uqa]

CB repair

Some of the truck stop CB shops have very good techs. eham.net has a list of good ham techs under product review.